Washing-machine



IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

E. B. CLEMENT, OF BARNET, VERMONT.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 20,482, dated June 8, 1858.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN B. CLEMENT, of Barnet, in the county of Caledonia and State of Vermont, have invented a new and useful Improvement "in Iashing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in providing a suitable vessel to hold the clothes and water which I call the tub. In this tub I arrange a series of rollers. A vibrating rubber is made to work horizontally on these rollers by means of two slotted elbow brakes, and up and down by means of a foot brake which is adjustable for either foot, and spring and connecting rods, which enable the operater to rub hard or lightly any particular place on any article completely immersed in water, any desired length of time, and to facilitate and lessen the labor of washing.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and opera-tion.

I make my tub, see Figure 1st letter A, two feet long on the bottom of the inside by eighteen or twenty inches wide and one foot deep. The sides are perpendicular. The ends flare out so as to make the tub about three feet long at the top. Letters B, B, are narrow pieces of board fitted in at the ends of the tub to prevent the water from iiying out. This tub is elevated about leighteen inches on legs. I made two bedpieces, see letter C, which is better shown in Fig. 2d, like letters refer to like parts, on a three foot-circle, one and one half inches wide and one inch thick. Places are cut in these bedpieces for the gudgeons of the rollers D, D, D, to roll in. These gudgeons are made of one fourth inch wire. The rollers are one and one fourth inches in diameter. The bed-pieces are fastened to the sides of the inside of the tub A so that the middle roller will be midway from the bottom up and midway from the ends. I fasten slats on the underside of these bedpieces to prevent the clothes from working up between the rollers, the ends of which are shown at letter E, E, E, Fig. 2d. A vibrating rubber composed of two arms, the upper ends being connected with a rock shaft F, Fig. 1st. On the other end of each of the arms G, Gr, is a foot, letter H, H, on which the rubbers I, I, I, are fastened. On these rubbers are little 'spurs about one eighth of an inch square running lengthwise with the rubbers. See letters J, J, J, for the purpose of carrying the article being washed along with the rubber. This drawing (Fig. 2d) represents the end view of the rack, one of bedpieces, the ends of the rollers, the ends of the rubbers and one of the slotted elbow brakes with their relative positions. Letters K, K, are two posts fastened to the tub, with a slot in their upper ends five inches long for the bearings of the rock shaft F, to work in. The rollers D, D, D, are kept in their places by caps, but one shown Fig. 1st letter M. There are two, three inches wide each. To work the vibrating rubber forward and back I use two slotted elbow brakes, see letter L, L, Fig. 1st, the form of which is better seen in Fig. 2d. These brakes are made of metal, (cast iron). From the elbow down is eight inches by fifteen the other w-ay. In the lower end of the eight inch part is a slot five inches long by live eighths wide in which the slot pin N, plays. But one of these is shown. There is another of these fastened on the other side of the vibrating rubber. On the other ends of the brakes L, L, is a shallow socket in which is fitted a round wooden handle and fastened by ascrew. See letter O, Fig. 1st. These brakes are one and one half inches wide by one half inch thick, and tapering from the elbow to the socket. At the elbow of each is a fulcrum pin which is fitted to the boxes p, p. This pin is represented in Fig. 2d, letter g. In order to work the vibrating rubber up and down as occasion requires, I use an adjustable foot brake composed of two bars but one seen in the drawing, see letter R, Fig. lst, one end of each being connected by a fulcruni pin to the back end legs of the tub. See letter S. Another bar is connected with the bars R, the ends of which pass through the bars R, sec letter T, and connect with the connecting rods U, U, to the rock shaft F. On the under side of the bar T, the adjustable brake o, is placed and turns on a loose bolt, one end projecting from under the front end of the tub, the other end resting under the box W. In order to raise the vibrating rubber I use a coiled spring which is not shown in the drawing. Its place is directly under the center of the tub one end fastened to the bar T, and the other t0 the bottom of the tub.

I come now to the operation. Fill up the tub With Water till the rollers are immersed. Place the end' of an article to be Washed on the rollers D, D, D, either :toot on the brake V, by swinging it around. Grasp the handle O, and raise it up, Which swings the Vibrating rubber toward the operator. Press down the brake V and Work the handle O, up and down. l/Vash that place clean, then raise the foot. The spring Will raise the Vibrating rubber, catch the Iarticle in another place and Witnesses:

GEORGE MASON, X. C. STEVENS. 

